Oh I do like to be....

...beside the seaside.

We've just got back from a fantastic few days down at the beach. Can you guess where we went?

Some of you will have got it from the pebbles alone!

How's about this for a clue?

The weather wasn't up to much, but we still had a great time, and Chloe loved the Pavillion.

What have you been up to over the summer? Any nice holidays to report?

Time to lay off that auto setting.....

Yay I have a new camera! Which no doubt you'll be seeing a lot more of, or at least a lot more photos from.

I have real trouble remembering all of the settings to use a camera manually, and trying to learn it all from a book is way too tricky - I can't remember what I did yesterday, let alone what ISO setting I should be using. So I instantly fell in love this pretty darn gorgeous cheat sheet, which lays it all out beautifully and visually.

It's from a site called Living in the Stills, (which is well worth checking out).

Here are some of the notes that came with it....

Aperture

- Small numbers (like f/1.4) have larger openings, which let in more light.

- Big numbers (like f/16) have smaller openings, which let in less light.

Shutter Speed

- Seeing 100, 250, 320, etc. on your viewfinder means “1/(number seen)”, like “1/100”.

- Try not to use 1/60 or less when handheld, that’s when you use a tripod or look for something steady.

- Using longer exposure (slow shutter speed) will let in more light.

- Using shorter exposure (fast shutter speed) will let in less light.

ISO

- ISO is the sensitivity of your camera to light

- Lower numbers are less sensitive to light, which give smoother photos.

- Higher numbers are very sensitive to light, which give very grainy and noisy photos.

I love that it is a visual representation of the settings. Its so much easier seeing things in a diagramatic way than a huge chapter in text.

Now I just need to print off a copy to go in my camera bag, and hey presto. I should be able to figure it out. I'll keep you posted.

Do you have any handy photography tips to share....?

Folksy Friday - Pretty in Pastels

After the week we've had in the UK, I felt in the mood for some sweet pastel finds today.

You know the routine, click on the pictures to see the shops.....


 
Misskukie Electric Vogue Jewellery

Beadish Delight

Mountain Ash - be creative...

Ritzy Swish

Marasca Photography

Jamball

 

Storage boxes

Loving my bead storage boxes. I bought them from ebay a couple of months ago when I was in my post move, frenzied organisation stage.

They cost about £2.50 incl postage, and are brilliant. Soooo much cheaper than the ones you get in bead shops!

Apart from anything else, just looking at my findings and beads neatly set out usually creates a little spark of inspiration.

Anyone else got any storage tips? I'm planning out my new workspace for when we get our building work done (probably not until next year, but I can plan it!!), so I'm thinking some handy wall tubs would be good. I saw some lovely storage things a while back but I'm still searching for the perfect one!

Folksy Friday - A touch of glamour

Inspired by the gorgeous letter press shop I saw this morning (that'll be you Little Red Press!)... here's my collection of Folksy finds that are just a little bit fabulous!!

You know the drill, click on the pics to go see the shops! Enjoy.




 


1: Little Red Press
2: Ileana Hunter
3: Fashion Couture
4: Peppermint Twist
5: Janine Basil
6: Alison Moore Designs

Tip Share - Adding a texture

At the same time as getting a new camera, I splashed out on Photoshop Elements. Elements is the cheaper, cut down version of Photoshop but seems to do everything I need (and more).

In case it's helpful, before that I was using Picassa which was fine, and free - I'd definitely recommend it.

Elements is great though, and I'm having loads of fun trying out new ways to edit my photos, while I'm learning I thought I'd put a few tip shares on the blog, in case they are any use to others.... (and make a good reference for me when I forget what on earth I'm supposed to do!). I'm not saying this is the correct way to do this, I have no idea, I'm just playing, and sharing what I learn. If I find out that I'm doing it completely wrong, I'll come back and edit this post.

Anyway, here's a photo I took at the fair recently.....

To add a texture to this all I did was open a new layer, by clicking on the layer heading, and then the "new layer" option.

You can then change the name on these layers by double clicking on them in the layer box in the lower right hand corner of the screen. Probably a useful habit to get into, as if you start making a lot of layers it can get confusing! Call the new layer "texture".

Then highlight the "texture layer", and go and find the texture you're going to use.

There are lots of free textures to be found on flickr or just google "free textures"

Here's a link to get you started...

http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-blog/2008/11/30/60-impressive-free-high-resolution-textures-and-backgrounds/

I chose this one.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/emeraldrose/2832585353/sizes/l/

Once you have your texture, right click and copy it. Then go back to Photoshop elements, and Edit>Paste it on the new texture layer... Just double check that the texture layer is highlighted before you paste, or else it'll cover the image!

Next just stretch out the texture by grabbing each edge. Stretch it right over the original picture until you can't see it anymore.

Once you've done that, see the  "opacity" button, just above the layer section on the right hand side. If you click on that a slider appears. For this one I slid it down to 40%


Then I flatten the image, by going into the layer menu, and choosing Flatten image, to keep all the layers together.

Hey presto - done!

And here's the finished picture...

What do you think?

Loving the mini heatwave

Yesterday we mainly splashed....